Well, after lots of research online, talking to a few users and some personal experience. I have decided to purchase the Ultimate Detailing Machine for polishing.

Because car detailing is a hobby, I really wanted to take my game to the next level. Warning: before you read this (or any other post I may write on car detailing), please understand that it’s a very fine line between a hobby and mental illness! Since moving a few times over the last few years, I seem to have mis-placed my Porter Cable dual action polisher.

Fortunately, I still have all the potions and lotions that I used with it. Anyway, after looking in every box, closet and tool chest, I came to the conclusion that the old Porter Cable was gone. must have lost it, lent it to someone with bad manners…who knows.

The time had come to revisit whether or not I wanted another one. I The unit that I used to have was the Porter Cable 7424. I liked the unit a lot, but new recently, after using the Ultimate Detailing Machine, I have a number of conclusions which I’ll share in another post about why I like use the Ultimate Detailing Machine better. The most obvious one being that the Ultimate Detailing Machine seems more powerful at higher speeds and feels more robust than the Porter Cable unit.

When I’m going to spend money on anything, I always look to see how focussed the manufacturer is on support for use of the product ( such as ‘how-to’ information) and how well it’s merchandised. For example, I will always buy a wine with the richer label and better glass, all other things being equal, because experience has taught me that vintners who take their product seriously will put more into its presentation.

In all fairness, the Porter Cable organization is a very large company (Delta Porter Cable), with many great products relied upon by professionals in many industries. In fact I have owned other products by Delta Porter Cable and have been totally happy with them. Also in all fairness, The Ultimate Detailing Machine is also a subsidiary of another larger company, The Perfect Shine, LLC., that runs one of the oldest car detailing communities on the net: Autopia-CarCare. I always find this site very helpful and have been going there for years.

However, the parent company is focussed on car detailing. It’s important to remember here that the 7424 does exactly the same thing as the Ultimate Detailing Machine: It’s dual action polisher - orbital and circular. However, if you go and spend as much time as I did on the web, it won’t take you long to see why I came to the conclusion that I did. At the very least you could hop over to Porter Cable’s website and compare that with The Ultimate Detailing Machine’s website and you tell me which company you feel more comfortable buying from for your car polishing needs.

As David Bynon says on his website, they “are not superstore and proud not to be”.

That means something to me.

Is it possible the same manufacturers of the Porter Cable are white labeling their products to Ultimate Detailing Machine? To Meguiars? , whose products I love by the way and also have their own dual action polisher, which admittedly I’ve not used and can only say is probably just as good given my experience with their other products.

Possibly - but the product is only part of my decision. The support, the singular focus of the brand and the accessibility of customer service and support all increased brand equity for me enough to put my money on the Ultimate Detailing Machine.

Let’s say you go and buy and buy the Porter Cable unit from Home Depot, are you going to get the kind of product support you need from the guy in the tool section who spent his whole life as a finishing carpenter?

Probably not.

If you bought from a value added reseller like Autogeek.net, then you probably would. Without turning this post into a Harvard Business Case, let me just say the Ultimate Detailing Machine and the company behind it is in my opinion…just…better. I think it’s better than the Porter Cable for three reasons:

1. I remember WAY MORE vibration with the PC 7424

2. It seems to have more power (which is very important on the higher speed settings)

3. The warranty is better.

For me, it always comes down to one thing: how much do you believe in yourself and your company’s products. How-to resources, merchandising and the customer service people that I spoke to all added up to a belief the Ultimate Detailing Machine is the best in the business.

As of this post, I have used it on two cars and am quite impressed with the results, usability and packaging. I’m going to write a follow up post about the first use of the Ultimate Detailing Machine on a black, 2000, BMW Roadster that I polished up for a friend.

Finally, another reason that I chose to put my money on the UDM is because of how they run their business. Here’s some text from their site which I feel is important to share as part of the reason for my decision:

“In 2003 we moved our warehouse and manufacturing facility to ARC of San Diego (ARC), a quality-of-life center for adults with learning impairments. Having ARC assemble our polisher, bottle our polishes and ship your order is a dream-come-true for the ARC workforce and us. About 10% of the revenue generated from each Ultimate Detailing Machine sale goes directly to programs to support adults with learning impairments. Each task, be it the simple application of a label or filling a complex order, is a worthy accomplishment for the ARC employee. The work boosts their pride and enhances their quality of life. When you remove the shrink wrap from your Ultimate Detailing Machine and unpack the parts, you’ll know it was all lovingly assembled by someone who cares that you receive your product in perfect condition.”

In the meantime, here’s are a few shots of the product the day it arrived (within the promised time frame) at my home, which I can sincerely say, accurately reflect the promise made on the website that “it was all lovingly assembled by someone who cares that you receive your product in perfect condition.”

The Ultimate Detailing Machine Arrives and Passes Inspection by Tiko the Bengal.

Out of the box

Ultimate Detailing Machine Box Shot

Polishing Pads Nicely Packaged and Labelled

All Ultimate Detailing Machine Contents Unpacked

Ultimate Detailing Machine Contents Packed into the Included Storage Bag

Everything Fits Perfectly